Impressions

In my first venture into the already month-old summer season, I managed to watch the first four episodes of Kanamemo on Crunchyroll and found it to be okay but lacking enough consistent entertainment value for me to keep up with it on a regular basis.

Even though I didn’t mention this show among those I was initially interested in, I figured I’d give it a look since it deals with newspaper delivery. It is also being simulcast, which means less work for me. The strategy the chief, Saki, uses to reel in new subscribers and the notations on route books were interesting to me and so was the girls’ use of a “we are working girls” song to promote the newspaper, albeit while wearing bathing suits in the midst of camera-gripping older men. (They should think of making that into a commercial, though.) However, some of the characters worked against my attempt to actively enjoy watching it.

I’m referring to Haruka, the biofermentation student who frequently imbibes and has a disturbing overaffection for newcomer Kana, fantasizing about her being innocent & childish (e.g. being in a stroller). She occasionally thinks the same way about Saki, such as in a school swimsuit, but not as often, probably because Haruka’s focus has shifted toward Kana. Kana’s nervous moments and bits of aloofness are a little better and show her naivety – e.g., panicking that everyone had been abducted by aliens because no one was around one morning – but started to fade in effectiveness for me.

I’ve liked other parts of the show including Hinata leaning her head on her route to notice a certain stock’s price in the window of a securities office (she’s so far failed an entrance exam twice) and the introduction of Mika, voiced appropriately by Rie Kugimiya, who helps distribute a rival publication. The musical elements in the 4th episode were interesting and I enjoyed the mutual relationship Yuuki and Yume have share and the care they show for each other.

I can’t forget to mention to a visual theme of stray cats, from Yume’s love of them to “stray Kana” to the censoring being paws. While that made sense to me almost immediately, the robot that appears in quick sidesweep transitions between scenes – and quickly says phrases I don’t catch – initially confused me until I thought it might be manga-ka Shoko Iwami’s analogue to Akira Kojima’s domino-shaped in Mahoraba – or maybe it’s just something the animation staff decided to put in, I don’t know for sure.

So in conclusion, I don’t hate the series so far but there’s nothing in particular to get to check in weekly – “everything worked out” slice-of-life endings don’t seem to be enough for me. I may go back to it after its run finishes up, though.